Order PASSERIFORMES . 
No. 470. 
Family MUSCICAPIDIE. 
MUSCITREA SIMPLEX. 
BROWN THICKHEAD. 
(Plate 397.) 
Pachycephala simplex Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1842, p. 135, Feb. 1843: Port 
Essington, Northern Territory. 
Pachycephala simplex Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1842, p. 135, 1843 ; id., Birds Austr., 
pt. 31 (Vol. II., pi. 72), June 1st, 1848 ; id., Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. I., p. 217, 
1865; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 181, 1878; Gadow, Cat. 
Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 219, 1883 ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 5, 
1888 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 34, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. 
Birds, Vol. I., p. 328, 1901 ; Le Souef, Emu, Vol. II., p. 90, 1902 (Eggs) ; Mathews, 
Hand! Birds Austral., p. 86, 1908 ; H. L. White, Emu, Vol. XVL, p. 226, 1917 
(N.T.) ; Campbell, ib., Vol. XVIII., p. 182, 1919 (N.T.) 
Pachycephala grisola simplex Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 316, 1912. 
Pachycephala grisola riordani Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 2, p. 41, April 2nd, 
1912 : Melville Island, Northern Territory. 
Muscitrea grisola simplex Mathews, List Birds Austr., p. 182, 1913. 
Muscitrea grisola riordani Mathews, ib. 
Muscitrea simplex simplex Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 5, p. 94, Sept. 24th, 1914. 
Muscitrea simplex riordani Mathews, ib. 
Distribution. Northern Territory. 
Adult male. General colour of the upper-parts rust-brown including the crown of the 
head, sides of the face, hind-neck, entire back, upper tail-coverts, wings and tail ; 
inner webs of the greater upper wing-coverts, bastard- wing, primary-coverts and 
flight-quills dark brown with whitish inner margins to the last ; chin and throat 
silky-white ; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white with a tinge of vinous- 
grey more strongly on the breast ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white ; under- 
surface of flight-quills hair-brown with bufty-white inner edges ; lower aspect of 
tail pale brown. Bill black, eyes reddish-brown ; feet and legs leaden-blue. Total 
length 140 mm. ; culmen 11, wing 77, tail 55, tarsus 20. Figured. Collected on 
Melville Island, Northern Territory, on the 29th of May, 1912. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
270 
